Leader of Drug Trafficking Network Gets 10 Years in Prison

Authorities say Asevez Santillano had ties to California and Mexico and was arrested in 2015 with two kilos of methamphetamine

SEATTLE — Authorities say the leader of a large drug trafficking group who was living in a Seattle suburb has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a news release that 37-year-old Ediberto Asevez Santillano was sentenced Friday.

Authorities say Asevez Santillano had ties to California and Mexico and was arrested in 2015 with two kilos of methamphetamine and $17,000 cash at his home in Renton, Washington.

Related arrests of nearly two dozen people were made throughout Western Washington with search warrants served on 17 residences and three storage facilities. Law enforcement says they seized more than 29 pounds of meth, over 18 pounds of heroin, six pounds of cocaine, approximately $178,000 in cash and 16 firearms including five assault rifles.

Eleven of those arrested have been sentenced to between three and seven years in prison.